


Goodbye

by sebacielfantasies



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: It just kinda happened, M/M, Mostly platonic love, sorry - Freeform, why do I keep doing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 18:29:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5938594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebacielfantasies/pseuds/sebacielfantasies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi never gets his goodbyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye

A final goodbye is hard to come by.

This, Levi knows better than anyone. Death is an impatient creature, and it does not like to wait for goodbyes. Last words are rarely spoken, a last kiss is only exchanged between lover and corpse.

Levi wishes he'd had time for a goodbye.

The expedition was drawing to its close. The Titans they had the misfortune to run into—they had come out of the woods in one giant horde, of all different shapes and sizes—were almost gone. Only a few remain, most of which Levi easily cuts down with his blades.

But then he turns, wiping his blades with his handkerchief—and he sees it.

One Titan is left. It's of average size, nothing compared to its big-ass friends Levi fought minutes before. What dangles in his mouth, though, is what makes him far more dangerous.

Eren's body is caught between the giant's teeth, stuck in his jaw like some kind of morbid sandwich. His blood drips down the Titan's chin like juice, cherry red and sickening to Levi's stomach.

A scream tears from the boy's throat, and then Levi is moving. Not thinking. Never thinking, not in combat. Moving, up and up and flying to Eren's aid.

But his 3DMG is too slow. It's like he's soaring in slow motion, wings of freedom tattered and battered on his forest green cape. His swords slash at the Titan's exposed nape of the neck, so fast they look like a blur of angry silver—but Eren is still screaming, Eren is still screaming and there's too much blood.

The scream is a sound that buries deep inside him as he lurches forward, arms snagging the brown haired teenager mid-air, mid-heartbeat. The Titan fizzles into heated smoke and Levi falls to the ground below.

He is careful landing on the ground, though he knows the gentleness is futile. His knees hit the soggy yellow-green grass, and he gathers the boy into his arms. What's left of him, at least.

Eren's legs are missing, as is his lower body. Most of his chest is still there, his head, his face, his teary eyes—Levi had no idea eyes could look so big, so glossy. He's seen more people die than he can count, but none with eyes like these. Another feature that made Eren stand out.

"Heal yourself," Levi forces out. The words pour forth like spilled tea, much too fast to comprehend. "Now, Jaeger, before I kill you myself."

Eren's head seems to be too heavy for his body; he has trouble lifting it to shake his head. One of his arms raise up—the other, Levi realizes with a start, is gone—and strokes the corporal's cheek, smearing blood there.

"Eren," his hand clamps down over the boy's, "heal yourself! Now!"

Inside, Levi knows Eren won't be healing anytime soon. Too much is gone, too much blood was lost. He'll bleed out before the limbs grow back. But Levi doesn't know what else to say. The automatic words of comfort he usually uses are lodged in his lungs like irritating little pebbles, leaving him helpless.

Eren's eyes bug out, and Levi knows they are out of time.

Here the boy does pipe up, and when he does, his voice is quieter than it's ever been. Levi has to bend down to catch it. "Don't—want—to—"

A gurgling, horrific noise escapes Eren, and he sags in the arms propping him up. His eyes unfocus, and then they're no longer big with fear—they're dead, just like the rest of him. The lifeless orbs are looking through Levi, and, finding this too disturbing, Levi closes them.

 _Die,_ Levi finishes for him. _Don't want to die._

Levi doesn't move for a good while. His legs feel stiff, like he's being stabbed with needles over and over. But that might be because the brat is so damn heavy, and now that he's dead he's even heavier.

"I didn't want you to die either, Eren." He's glad his men aren't too close; if they were, they would've heard the way his voice cracks. "Not you."

He wishes their goodbye could've been longer. He wishes that Eren could've at least finished one fucking sentence. But it had been incomplete, just like his life. Just like his dreams.

Levi's body feels cold when he pulls away from the corpse. Eren's body heat felt nice, crushed up against him like a blanket—but now he's cold, too cold. He grabs the boy's hand, squeezes it, and leftover warmth spreads to his fingertips.

Then, releasing his hold, he stands up. He doesn't look back. If he does, he may never want to look away. If he does, the burn behind his eyes will intensify and he might do something stupid like cry.

"Goodbye, Eren Jaeger," he says. "Goodbye."


End file.
